The response to The Liverpool Shakespeare Festival from the people of Liverpool has been more than we could have hoped for. Five weeks before the premiere, several performances are now fully booked and the others are filling up rapidly.

Without wanting to give too much away, our production has a Victorian flavour and exists in a world where magic is very real indeed. Our witches will be played by every member of the company, and our team of technicians and stage illusionists been working overtime to bring you some incredible special effects. As for Banquo's ghost. . .

We are proud to announce the confirmed cast for Macbeth. After an exhaustive audition process, we have assembled exactly the right team of actors for the job. Every member of our creative and production team lives in and around Liverpool.

Cast in alphabetical order:

Lady Macbeth – Ruth Alexander-Rubin

Lennox / Bloody Sergeant – Harry Arkwright

Macbeth – Simon Hedger

Donalbain / Seyton – Gray Hughes

Macduff – Richard Kelly

Ross – Michael Neary

Duncan / Porter – Iain Ormsby-Knox

Malcolm – Ben Stott

Banquo – Liam Tobin

Lady Macduff – Haz Webb

Rehearsals for Macbeth begin on 23rd July. Lodestar members are invited to attend an open rehearsal on Wednesday 8th August in St James' Gardens.

There is still time for you to get involved in the production. If you would like to learn firsthand more about how a show like this works or if you would simply like to be part of a creative team, please get in touch atGetInvolved@TheLiverpoolShakespeareFestival.co.uk

We will keep you up to date - the next newsletter will be with you shortly. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have. We will look forward to hearing from you.

We are opening up our facilities (workshops for metal, wood, textiles and ceramics) on Saturday afternoons and, if there is sufficient demand, plan to extend this across the rest of the week. The sessions currently run from 12noon - 4pm on Saturday afternoons at the extremely low cost of £15.

Induction sessions for new users of the space will take place on Saturday mornings from 10am-12noon at a cost of an additional £10.

If clients are interested in using the workshops for longer periods of time or at other times they should contact us (see details below).

The use of the space by clients would be involve:

The prospective client letting us know a little more about their proposed project/work using a project proposal form (see contact details below from where the form can be obtained)

The client would generally use their own materials (unless they negotiate provision of materials with us in advance of the sessions)

If we are happy with the prospective client's proposed use of the space, the client would book into an induction session (around 2 hours) for which they will pay £10 and which will satisfy us that they are capable of safely using equipment

The client will bring to each of the sessions payment in the form of a cheque made payable to Liverpool Hope University

Prospective users of the space should contact Neil Campbell on 07736 082978 to arrange a visit and clarify any details or you can e-mail Niel at: CAMPBEN@hope.ac.uk